Our £25k London 10k heroes
Sunday, July 25th, 2021
A huge thank you to all the #TeamSpecialEffect runners from across the world who took to the streets and pathways to raise £25,000 for our work last weekend.
It’s the twelfth year that we’ve entered a team into the London 10k (formerly the British 10k) and it really was a year like no other! With all the continuing questions surrounding COVID-19 health and safety regulations, we invited runners to choose between either the #TeamLondon event (taking part in the ‘real world’ race) or #TeamVirtual (running from wherever they wanted in the world).
The response was truly fantastic, with nearly 200 supporters putting in the hard yards. From Westminster to Witney, Rotterdam to Redmond, Croydon to Cadiz, blue and orange t-shirts could be seen flashing along highways, through woods and along sea fronts, with plenty of PBs along the way on account of the perfect running conditions.
For #TeamVirtual, the day started with a Zoom warm-up to get the blood pumping for those running from home, hosted by former SpecialEffect OT Marta Dabek (top left in the image below):
On the streets of London, runners were converging from as far as the Isle of Wight and Edinburgh to take on a course that took in the sights of Big Ben, London Bridge and Trafalgar Square, and the sounds of cheering spectators and live music. Many of the team gathered on the grass of St James Park afterwards to swap race stories and experiences, and as they left a few drops of rain started to fall. Within a few short hours, torrential thunderstorms had swamped the London streets and many of its tube stations.
Below: just some of the fantastic #TeamSpecialEffect runners
The two strands of the day were brought together with another Zoom call in the afternoon, giving members of both #TeamVirtual and #TeamLondon the opportunity to come together. Dr Mick raised a glass to everyone who had taken part and all their friends, colleagues and family members who had donated so generously to support our work.
We’d like to take this opportunity to further extend our thanks to all our amazing ‘hybrid’ 10k runners. Whether you finished in 40 minutes or took your time and enjoyed the view, you’re all winners in our eyes!